Animal rights protesters are demonstrating in the UK over the fate of an alpaca that has twice tested positive for bovine tuberculosis.
Geronimo the alpaca has twice tested positive for bovine tuberculosis, and the Department of Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) has ordered he be euthanised.
The British government insisted there can be no reprieve for Geronimo as crowds of animal rights protesters marched on Downing Street today.
His owner, Helen Macdonald, who imported him from New Zealand, believes the tests are returning false positives, but has been refused permission to have him tested a third time.
Last week, Ms Macdonald lost her final appeal to save her beloved pet at the High Court in London and now a warrant has been signed for his destruction.
But she has received an outpouring of support from the public, with nearly 100,000 people signing a petition calling on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to halt the killing.
As around 30 protesters began a march from Defra's headquarters in Westminster to the gates of Downing Street today, Mr Johnson's official spokesman said: "We know how distressing losing animals to TB is for anyone. That is why the Environment Secretary has looked at this extremely carefully and interrogated all the evidence.
"The fact remains that Geronimo has sadly tested positive twice using a highly specific and reliable and validated test. This is something the Environment Secretary has looked at very carefully."
The demonstration has been organised by members of the Born Free Foundation, the Alpaca Society, and practising vet and bovine TB policy expert Dr Iain McGill.
The campaigners believe that Geronimo is free of TB and that Defra's tests are highly likely to be inaccurate.
They are demanding a different type of test be used to prove Geronimo's disease status before his death.
Speaking from her farm in South Gloucestershire, Ms Macdonald criticised the government for refusing to change its mind.
"Unfortunately they are still misquoting data," she said.
"What they did to Geronimo was not a validated test - they knew what they were doing.
"I do not want to be singled out. It's about making decisions that have backfired on them and taking it out on Geronimo and causing him harm and me and my family harm purely because they didn't listen to us four years ago when they thought there was a problem.
"We are just asking to have him tested with something appropriate. I get they have policy to follow but there are other ways, and they don't have to kill him. He is safe in isolation here.
"They've always been happy with that and he's not a public health risk. They won't test his friends, so they are obviously not worried that he is going to give them TB.
"No one has died here from TB in four years, so I just don't understand why it has to be this drastic."
As well as alpacas, badgers have been a victim of the fight against bovine TB, with mass culling employed to stop the spread since 2013, sparking a huge public backlash.
Campaigners are calling for Mr Johnson to force Environment Secretary George Eustice to halt the killing and immediately implement the latest bovine TB tests for all suspected cases.
They also want to see an end to all further badger cull licences in favour of a vaccination programme for cattle, alpacas and badgers.
The outcry over Geronimo's fate prompted Mr Eustice, who comes from a farming background, to write an article in the Mail on Sunday about his own experiences with bovine TB.
"Each week on average, we have to remove more than 500 cattle from herds due to infection in England alone. Behind every one of those cases is a farmer who has suffered loss and tragedy," he said.
"Farmers understand that infected animals are a risk to the remainder of their herd, so, while the loss of individual animals is always a tragedy, the farming communities have worked with our government vets in this arduous but necessary endeavour."
Ms Macdonald has threatened to film the last moments of her alpaca's life if the cull goes ahead, and broadcast it on social media.
